So, we got our flight plans last Thursday.  We fly Delta the whole way. Flight 985 from SLC to Atlanta 12:50 PM to 06:28 PM on September 11. Then Flight 147 from Atlanta to Santiago 10:35 PM (Sept 11) to 09:10 AM on Sept 12.  We leave the MTC at 8 AM and have a four hour layover in Atlanta, where we'll eat some real food and make some phone calls.

A week from now I'll be preaching the gospel in the streets of Santiago. How cool is that?

I've got one more week to practice my Spanish before I enter a world where I may only be able to communicate in Spanish. But hey, I can talk about Joseph Smith's First Vision pretty much fluently, what else do I need?

It's amazing how strongly the Spirit testifies every time we teach that story. Because we are testifying that God is our loving Heavenly Father and that He and His son, Jesus Christ are two separate beings, and that the heavens are open in our day. We too can receive personal revelation. For example, during a lesson, I was acting as an investigator and I was reminded of something my dad once said, and prompted to ask the missionaries who were teaching me that if they are happy because of the gospel, why I could not see it when they taught it. It was a great lesson for me especially, and I have been trying to show the joy that I have when I'm teaching. Through personal revelation we have all become much better teachers.  

Also... I've been really sick since about Friday or Saturday, but I'm getting better every day and hoping by September 11 I'll be better, as I will be on an airplane for something like 17 hours.

I'm so excited that I will finally be teaching people, and bringing something they desperately need into their lives. The Lord has blessed me so much in my life, and especially now with Spanish. I know it will be several months before I can really communicate comfortably with people, but the amount I've learned already is incredible! The Lord certainly takes part in the preparation of His missionaries. I see His hand in my life every day.

Yo sé que Jesucristo vive y es mí Salvador. Él sufrió por mís pecados y todos de mís affliciones y dolores. Quiere ayudarme porque sabe todas las cosas que siento. Y sé que tenemos un profeta de Dios por neustro día. Jesucristo restauró su Iglesia por medio del profeta José Smith. Tenemos la opportunidad usar la expiación cada día.  

I know that this is His work, and I cannot wait to get out there and help people to follow Him. "For I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day." (Alma 36:3). Know in whom you should trust, and trust in Him, because He wants to help you and guide you, and I promise you that He will, because he is doing so for me. "And I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me... and I do put my trust in Him, and He will still deliver me." (v. 27)

God be with you 'til we meet again

Elder Garrett